Masters of the Universe Origins Skeletor and Screeech Hands on Review
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It was only a month ago that we got all those incredible reveals of the Evil Lord of Destruction and his barbarian bird during the 2023 March MOTU Origins Reveals. And now, within just 4 weeks time, we actually have the Masters of the Universe Origins Skeletor and Screeech 2 pack for a hands on review! This new version of Skeletor is not just a simple repaint, but includes an all new vintage inspired head sculpt with an articulated jaw! Screeech has all the same fun action features as the previously released Zoar, complete with wing flapping action!
Screeech is Skeletor’s robotic bird that he sent out to spy on the Heroic Warriors. Screech is basically a repaint of Zoar. The vintage Zoar figure came from existing tooling from the 1972 eagle from the Big Jim Line. Released in 1983, the large bird’s color scheme was molded after the colors of the Filmation cartoon, blue and purple. Screech, just like Zoar has a button on the back of his leg that activates the flight mode and makes the wings flap up and down. We already have Teela with Zoar, so it was only just natural that we would get Skeletor and Screech! Teela was a repaint variant, and it is exciting to see Skeletor’s new color refresh in hand! The most exciting part of this new refresh for Skeletor is his new vintage inspired head sculpt and a freakin articulated jaw! How amazing is that? You can pose Skeletor laughing, or serious how ever you like!
Package Design
Inspired by Rudy Obrero’s vintage artwork, the new Skeletor and Screeech 2 pack comes with some spectacular artwork and nods to the upcoming Snake Mountain Playset. Skeletor and Screech come in the same box size and style as the Teela and Zoar 2-Pack. This ne Skeletor and Screeech set is an amazing addition to your collection of MOTU figures and creatures.
In Roy’s own words: “It’s packaging time! Here’s a special preview of the Collectors Edition Skeletor and Screeech 2-pack inspired by the Master Rudy Obrero’s vintage artwork. I will share the English version of the packaging when I have it in hand.”
The usual suspects for Origins:
Art Direction & Graphic Design @manuel_eduardo_caritas
Artwork @fetch.franciscoetchart
Toy Design @katanarama333
Copywriter @yesreallyrob
Here you can see the illustration of a child playing with the bird’s wing flapping action feature and “Snap on battle backpack”. Also there is a banner at the bottom front of the box that says “ Collector’s Edition, Inspired by Vintage Artwork”
Artwork inspired by the incredible Rudy Obrero, and drawn by the talented @fetch.franciscoetchart, Skeletor is seen with Screech perched on his shoulder looking pensive in deep thought, trying to come up with a plan to beat He-Man. Also there is a spectacular illustration of Snake Mountain as well!
Both sides of the box have skeleton bones on one side and a small gargoyle on the other side.
On the back of the package, you can also see Zoar coming in from the upper left to thwart Skeletor and Screeech’s plans as you know they are up to no good! The cross sell is also great to see with Point Dread and the Talon Fighter and Wave 14! The back of the box also features an illustration of the action features on Screeech. How to flap his wings and how to attach his battle harness.
Art and Ilustrations
Pictured below is the full front box art for the Skeletor and Screeech 2-Pack and Skeletor looks a little troubled! With Snake Mountain looming in the background, he has strayed pretty far away from home. In this desolate scene, Skeletor is gazing down at a river of lava below. A penny for Skeletor’s thoughts!
Up close, we can see the amazing details of Snake Mountain, Screeech, and Skeletor. The color scheme of Skeletor harkens back to the vintage box art and Screeech’s beady yes are fantastic!
On the back of the box art we can see a close up of Skeletor releasing Screeech into the wild to head off Zoar, who is off in the distance barreling down on the evil duo.
Pack Out
The pack out for this Skeletor Screech two pack is filled with great accessories and looks amazing layed out on it’s bubble packaging. We also get an exciting new addition to the Origins line, our now second bird! This brightly colored blue and purple Origins version of Screeech harkens back to the vintage complete with battle armor and perch!
Skeletor
Let’s start off with taking a lot at the Skeletor Action figure. You can see that both the armor and figure has a different motif, and is very reminiscent of the how the vintage figure was rendered on the original packaging.
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The armor is the exact same Skeletor armor that the original figure comes with, but it is a lighter base purple color and has those reddish orange accents to it on the front of the chest armor and on the waist piece.
Head
First off let’s take a look at this incredible new head sculpt for Skeletor. His hood has a reddish orange tinge to it. His face sculpt is completely new and is an incredible homage to the vintage action figure. They have done a great job in outlining the green widow’s peek at his forehead. Also, the red pupils in his eyes are much larger now, with a black surround, reminiscent of the vintage action figure. But the biggest improvement to this head sculpt has got to be his articulated jaw! When we first saw images of this Skeletor, we were guessing that his jaw was articulated but could not confirm it until we later got further details about the figure. Well folks, it is articulated and done so well!
When his jaw is closed, he has a much more menacing look, a more serious look to his face. The jaw lines connect up really nicely together. The teeth also come together very nicely as well. And you can see the green paint app outlining his jaw and wraps around his face. Then you can open his mouth partially as if he was talking or open it all the way to make him do his maniacal laugh! You could create stop motion videos if you wanted to, the possibilities are endless! And at this point, if you watch the incredible video review that Michael did, this is when he channel’s the great Mega Jay Retro to do his wonderful Skeletor impersonation! “He he he he he, Beastman you boob, get back to storming Castle Grayskull!” They did a spectacular job executing his articulated jaw!
Unlike the articulated jaw in the 40th Anniversary Skeletor that came in the 2022 SDCC exclusive, this version has a nice tight joint and does not fall open on it’s own. So Mattel kodos for nailing that!
Arms, Torso and Legs
The arms, torso and legs are the same sculpt as the first version of Skeletor, except his skin tone is lighter and he has a reddish orange accents on his lighter colored purple armor, and on his hood as well.
Accessories
This new version of Skeletor comes packed with his standard sword and Havoc Staff. But the coloring on these are of a lighter purple color. The top of the Havoc staff also has that reddish orange color applied to it as well. Would have been nice for them to add the coloring to the power sword as well, to tie it all together, but a last they did not.
Comparison to Standard Release Skeletor figure (vintage head)
These two Skeletor figures share the exact same body parts, armor and loin cloth sculpts, but have completely different head sculpts and coloring. So let’s take a look at the details. The biggest difference you will notice first off between the standard Skeletor release and this new one is that the new one has a lighter blue skin tone. The original release has a brighter sky blue color, although not as bright as the new He-Skeletor skin tone. Secondly the chest armor and the waist piece on the original release are a deep purple color. Also, the standard release Skeletor has matching deep purple hood and boots. Where this new Skeletor has lighter purple colored armor and waist piece with of course the reddish orange accents. And of course, a matching lighter purple hood and boots.
But the biggest difference between the two has got to be the head sculpt! The original vintage head release has much smaller eyes as smaller red pupils in his eyes. Also the green around his head is a bit more of a gradient from yellow to green. Where the new Skeletor as we mentioned about has much larger eyes and a much more pronounced green outline around his face, and of course who can forget that articulated jaw!
You can see how this new Origins version of Skeletor compares to the vintage head sculpt, and what a wonderful job Mattel did giving this new Skeletor a vintage style head!
Screeech
Now let’s take a look at Screeech, and no this is not Screeech from Saved by the Bell…. I had to use that line, as Michael said it in our review video, and it was hilarious! Screeech comes from the exact same mold as the Origins Zoar, so if you have Zoar you know what to expect. The coloring for Screeech is very spot on to the vintage figure which we will take a look at as well. There is a very nice blue and purple coloring on him. His tail feathers have a very nice blue purple and orange that ties together the colors on the Skeletor figure as well.
If we take a look at the bird’s face, you can see the nicely painted beak, along with his beady little eyes. There are some brighter blue accents around his neck area. His body is a dark blue color.
Just like Zoar, if you press the button on the back of his leg, you can make his wings flap up and down! It’s so much fun and I could do this all day!
He comes with his trusty little perch in a burgundy red color. It is the exact same mold as the perch that came with Zoar. And just like that perch, it does a much better job at balancing and staying up right than the vintage version.
Let’s also take a look at Screeech’s harness or as they call this on the package, his “Battle Backpack.” You can see some of the rocket detail on the side and some of the harness details on it as well. It attaches on to his head and his tail. The plastic is soft enough where you can easily fit in on his tail. He looks really cool wearing his battle backpack. The color of the battle backpack matches the same burgundy red color of the stand.
Here we can see a view of Screeech’s battle back pack or power harness. You can see it’s deep red color, and it matches the same color as the perch.
Comparison to Vintage Screeech figure
The differences between the vintage Screeech and the new one really lies in the paint applications. The molds of the figures are pretty much the same. You can see that the vintage bird has a much more shiner paint application where the new one has a much more matte finish. Its very apparent on the tail feathers. The tail feathers are more of an orange color on the Origins figure and more of a reddish orange on the vintage figure. The colors on the vintage figure are slightly lighter colors both on the bird and his perch. The Origins version has brighter colors, and the perch is a more deep burgundy tone.
Also, with the harness or Battle backpacks, the vintage one was in two pieces and the Origins one is all in one piece. Also, the vintage version was made of a much harder plastic so it wasn’t as easy to put on and take off, hence why it came in two pieces. Whereas the new Origins one is made off a much softer plastic.
Vintage Gift Set
in package
Where to Buy
The Skeletor and Screeech 2-Pack has popped up on Amazon! There has been a flurry of MOTU Origins sets held over the March 20, 2023 MOTU Origins reveals, such as Point Dread and the Talon Fighter, Dragon Blaster Skeletor, and Snake Face. In a shocking move by Amazon yesterday, they also put up Snake Mountain for predorder! The dynamic duo is currently processing and shipping from Entertainment Earth and here is where the Skeletor and Screeech 2-Pack is currently up for sale:
If you haven’t already checked out Michael’s incredible hands on review of the Skeletor and Screeech 2 pack, you can check it out here:
Complete Your MOTU Collection
Be sure to check out our Masters of the Universe shop pages where we’ve curated figures from MOTU Origins, Masterverse, Classics, Vintage and more so you can find the figures you need easier!
